Alternative Refrigeration?

kukulcan · Post by **kukulcan** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 5:39 am

dear fellow burners,

does anyone have any SUCCESSFUL experience with alternative means of refrigeration? something using evaporative cooling, etc...

we did OK with dry ice last year, but i was just wondering if anyone has experience with Pot-in-Pot refrigeration, or similar ideas? the pot-in-pot idea looks interesting, but it may not be sufficient, given the high heat. then again, if it works in Africa...

bdeywoo · Post by **bdeywoo** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 8:38 am

Nothing of that sort but i did come up with a great dry ice method. I went and bought from the surplus store a big metal artilery box 4lx3hx3d or close to that size. I stacked one layer of dry ice on the bottom, I got some thin plastic that holds dryice to the sides and then made a little netted pouch for the underside of the lid to put dryice in. I kept the Artilery box on some wood up off the ground and in the shade and all my food stayed frozen form monday till I left the next monday. There were really only two drawbacks, its was very heavy and extremely cold to the touch.

phil · Post by **phil** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 9:27 am

does anyone have any SUCCESSFUL experience with alternative means of refrigeration?

Canned goods.

ibdave · Post by **ibdave** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 4:36 pm

Hello,
1st year in 98 I took an old upright freezer and laid it on it's side, filled it with dry ice and all the goodies I could pack in it... left it inside my trailer.. Worked super..
Be on the look-out for an old R.V. refrigerator, They run on propane.

Deleted Barkeep · Post by **Deleted Barkeep** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 2:19 pm

bdeywoo wrote:Nothing of that sort but i did come up with a great dry ice method. I went and bought from the surplus store a big metal artilery box 4lx3hx3d or close to that size. I stacked one layer of dry ice on the bottom, I got some thin plastic that holds dryice to the sides and then made a little netted pouch for the underside of the lid to put dryice in. I kept the Artilery box on some wood up off the ground and in the shade and all my food stayed frozen form monday till I left the next monday. There were really only two drawbacks, its was very heavy and extremely cold to the touch.

Yeah, I'd be worried about that.

You'd lose a little space inside, but did you consider using styrofoam as insulation? It works well enough to allow steaks to be sent through the mail. Using a styofoam box would really cut down on the space, but maybe you could use packing peanuts - same material or close to it.

Post by **AntiM** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 2:35 pm

We have some super-dense foam used in refrigerated trucking to separate cold from frozen loads. Do you know any truckers? Meat packing workers?

Packing peanuts are high in MOOP potential, if you do turn to them, design well to avoid escape.

Deleted Barkeep · Post by **Deleted Barkeep** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 2:44 pm

Yeah, peanuts blowing in the wind would be bad news. Very loose plastic sheeting over the peanouts, bounded to the box holding all of this, going around the rim?

The peanuts won't be able to spill out, but you'll still be able to move the peanuts around as needed.

Lassen Forge · Post by **Lassen Forge** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 6:28 pm

You can get standard sized refrigerators that run on propane or LP. They're pricey, but for the Kamp that is trying to have everything, it would be an awesome idea. Especially if you're there before or after CampArctica is open.

What else? If you buy ice for long term cooling - buy blocks, not cubes. Open your Dry Ice cooler as little as possible (transfer the days food to a wet ice cooler, and use plastic or paper to fill in the open space you just created)... and keep all coolers double shaded and off the ground.

phil · Post by **phil** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 8:48 pm

One of my friends brought a propane fridge, and it ran just fine for the whole week.

He dug line in the playa powder, drove a stake in the ground and put an electrical outlet on it, with a plug and line running behind the fridge, then told everyone he had electricity from center camp. :->

Desert Duck · Post by **Desert Duck** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 7:32 pm

You can also get those coolers that you run from your cigarette lighter, only run it straight from a battery with a solar panel hooked to it. Also, there's this stuff called "Reflectix", it's basically bubble plastic with aluminum on each side. Wrap your cooler in that, and keep a little pouch of dry ice inside-no more than 4"x4", that'll keep everything nice and cool for 2-3 weeks. Maybe have to replace the dry ice once. Also, for frozen stuff, prefreeze your water(like those 2-1/2 gal suitcases), as well as everything you want to keep frozen, You can even use a steamer trunk for this, lined with 6 mil plastic, larger block of dry ice, double layer of reflectix on the outside. As you are in need of a new water, pull it out the day before and set it on the trunk. This slows heat transferrence, you get ICE-cold drinking water.

spectabillis · Post by **spectabillis** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 9:33 pm

you can use the search function to find some older threads that cover this, but people's posts here is a pretty good take on using dry ice.

scruffyboy · Post by **scruffyboy** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 12:08 am

Those 12volt "coolers" that run off your cigarette lighter don't provide enough cooling to keep food safe on the Playa. They only give maybe a 45 degree difference between the inside of the "box' and the outside temp. Plus you'd need a HEFTY battery and solar panel to keep the thing running. There ARE 12volt fridges that have a compressor and work like your household fridge. They can usually be found through marine supply stores.

Alternative Refrigeration?

Alternative Refrigeration?

Thermo-electric coolers